Improvement in governors



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN P. BURNHAM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN GOVERNORS.

To all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN P. BURNHAM, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Governor; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same.

Similar letters of reference in both views indicate corresponding parts.

This invention consists in a slotted link secured to a lever which is suspended from a rock-shaft, in combination with an ordinary ballgovernor, and with afriction-wheel which works within the slotted link in such a manner that when the balls of the governor fly out the slotted link is pressed up against one side of the friction-wheel and the steam-valve is closed or the effective surfaceof the sails of the wind-wheel decreased, and when the balls sinkdown the link is pressed up against the opposite side of said friction-wheel and the steamvalve is opened, or the effective surface of the sails increased, and by these means the speed of an engine or wind-wheel can be rendered self-regulating.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents an ordinary ball'governor, the balls a of which are suspended from arms b, which are hinged to the bracket c, and con-` nect by links d with a slecve,e. The bracket cis firmly secured to the upper end ofthe vert-ical shaft f, on which the sleeve e slides easily up and down. This sleeve is provided with a circular groove or neck, g, and it connects by means ofa rod, B, the forked end of which catches into said neck and connects it with the rock-shaft C, so that when the sleeve slides up and down on the governor-shaft f an oscillating motion is imparted to the rockshaft C.

D is a hooked arm, which is firmly c.nnected with the rock-shaft C, and its hooked end forms the fulcrum for the lever E, one end of which connects by a rod, F, with the regulating mechanism of the engine or other machine, the speed of which is to be regulated, while its other endlforms a slotted link, h, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The slot in this link forms a segment of a circle described from the fulcrum-pin of the lever E as a center, and it embraces the friction-wheel G, which is rmly secured to the driving-shaft H of the governor. This shaft derives its motion from the engine or other machine to be regulated, and, conse quently, its speed depends entirely upon the speed of said engine or other machine. If this speed exceeds the desired limit the balls of the governor iy out, the sleeve g rises, and the rock-shaft C turns in the direction of the arrowmarkednearit in Fig. 2. By this mot-ion the lever E is pushed in the direction of the arrow marked on it, and the link h is pressed up against the inner side of the friction-Wheel G. If this wheel rotates in the direction of the arrow marked on it the link will be carried up to the lower end of the slot, and the rod F moves in the direction of the arrow marked on it. By this motion the steam-valve is closed or the effective surface ofthe sails of a wind-wheel is reduced, or, generally speaking, the regulating mechanism of the machine to be governed is so adjusted that the speed of said machine is reduced. As soon as this takes place the balls ofthe governor sink down, the slotted link is pressed up against the outside of the friction-wheel and carried to the upper end of the slot, and thereby the regulating mechanism is so adjusted that the speed of the machine to be governed is again increased, and iinally the slotted link will adjust itself in a central position, and the motion will become uniform and regular.

This governor can be used with advantage for regulating the speed of wind-wheels, steam-engines, horse powers, or any other power machines. It is cheap in its construction, and all its parts are so arranged that they are not liable to get out of order.

V\7Vl1at I claim as Amy invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The lever E', with the slotted link h and friction-wheel G, in combination with the rock-shaft C and sleeve g of the governor A, all constructed and operating in the manner and for the purpose substantially as herein shown aad described.

JOHN P. BURNHAM. Witnesses: O.BURN.HAM, J. STANFORD. 

